A Review of Brain MRI Findings in Gender Identity Disorder Individuals

Gender identity disorder describes the condition when a person identifies with a gender different from the birth-assigned sex. The cause of this disorder is still unknown, but it is believed that biological variables can play a role in its creation and development. The diagnosis of this disorder is currently based on interviews and clinical criteria, but the presence of biological evidence, especially since it is anatomically and objectively visible, is very effective in confirming the diagnosis and facilitating treatment and patient support. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to review the findings of brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of these patients to obtain a specific brain pattern so that in the future, this disorder can be identified and treated more accurately using this knowledge. The results of this study show that there has been very little research, and in some cases, if an experiment is repeated, contradictory results have been obtained. This is because in these studies, analyzes were done without considering confounding factors and with small sample sizes. Therefore, to achieve a specific pattern of brain morphology changes related to this disorder, there is a need for wider and more comprehensive studies.